The Communications Dept. is a location in the Executive Sector of the Oldest House. It is the location of the Communications Department, a division of the Federal Bureau of Control which handles interactions with public bodies, most commonly in covering up major paranatural events.
Background[]
The Communications Department is responsible for handling all communications with the public, providing cover stories for Bureau operations, Altered Item incidents, and Altered World Events. It is also partially responsible for detecting paranatural incidents via monitoring public communications.[1] Apart from external responses, the Communications Dept. is also responsible for facilitating internal Bureau communications and announcements.[2] The mail infrastructure of the Oldest House is handled entirely in this department, from mail tube system maintenance to the actual sorting and delivery of inter-departmental, incoming, and outgoing messages.
This department appears to be a successor to the Department of Public Knowledge and Diversions, which held the same role in the early years of the Bureau, aiming to offer "sufficient yet vague rationale" in order to support public belief in a stable and certain world. Close attunement with the technological and social growth of the outside world was necessary in order to control the ever-quickening spread of information over time.[3] Whatever the case, by 1978, the Bureau division responsible for public messaging was known as the Communications Department.[4]
Various Collectibles in the Oldest House reveal the department's efforts to conceal the paranatural world. In 1986, the Jasper Post Box Altered Item was contained after the department intercepted phone calls detailing the incident.[1] In 2011, the department took to spreading hoax videos and theories on the internet in order to create a public explanation of the Kyiv AWE.[5] In 2017, the department covered up the Havana AWE as an attack on U.S. embassy staff by foreign powers using sonic weaponry.[6][7] Most recently, the Willow AWE in 2019 was passed off as an attack by polar bears forced to migrate due to global warming, with Head of Communications Alberto Tommasi praising the response for using contemporary concerns that would help sell the story to the public.[8]
Alberto Tommasi, the Bureau's most recent Head of Communications, did not survive the Hiss invasion. He was corrupted and became a Hiss Elevated, killing many surviving agents in the Mail Room and using his access to the Bureau's public announcement system to broadcast the Hiss incantation. Meanwhile, the Floppy Disk Object of Power was also corrupted and ran rampant in Pneumatics, killing another number of survivors.
Layout[]
The Communications Department takes up a large portion of the Executive Sector, occupying the entire upper-left quadrant of the sector. Pneumatics, the Mail Room, and the Hotline Chamber are all part of the Communications Department.
This location is traversed during the main story mission Unknown Caller. From the entrance to the Communications Dept. in Dead Letters, a staircase will lead up to a dead end with a single secured unit. The restrooms on the ground floor are empty. Taking the long hallway down will lead to Pneumatics, as well as a Safe Room with a Collectible at the end of the hallway. During Unknown Caller, the path forwards will be blocked by a Hiss Barrier until the Floppy Disk is cleansed.
The next hallway is lined by two large cages filled with letters; these are the Inbound Mail and Outbound Mail rooms, though they are not labelled in game. Each of these cages holds a secured unit, and the eastern cage also contains a Collectible.
At the end of this hallway is a large section of offices and desks outside the Mail Room, spanning three floors. A Clearance Level 1 keycard can be collected near dead Bureau personnel on the first and second floors, necessary for unlocking the Mail Room during Unknown Caller. The Mail Room Control Point can be found on the first floor just outside the Mail Room; this is the only Control Point inside the Comms Dept.
The staircase to the second floor near the Control Point contains a Safe Room with a secured unit and a radio which plays the song "Salmon Soup" by Socks & Ballerinas. Objects of note on the second floor are a Collectible and a whiteboard with text not found anywhere else in the Oldest House. (There is one such unique whiteboard in each of the four base game sectors, though they do not have any purpose other than environmental detail.)
Hidden Locations[]
The third floor, accessible via stairs on the northern end of the second floor, leads to two unmarked locations, both of which contain Hidden Locations.
Office[]
This office, consisting of two sections, is found behind a "locked" door which does not require any Clearance Level to unlock. One Collectible can be found on the central cabinet in the outer section. The inner section is covered with Mold and cannot be safely traversed until the side mission Old Growth is completed. One secured unit can be found at the very end of this section. To reach the Hidden Location, simply travel all the way into the Mold-filled section.
Notably, all desks inside this office have nameplates. The names on the desks are real-life Remedy Entertainment employees who worked on Control.
External Communications[]
External Communications is a large square room with many Black Rock-lined computer cubicles; this is the only place in the entire Oldest House which has internet access. A Collectible can be found here on a copier machine along the west wall. Entering this room causes Hiss enemies to spawn, up to and including the unique Hiss Ranger miniboss Ranger First Class Coleman. The room can be exited at any time, but note that the enemies can follow Jesse outside of the room.
To reach the Hidden Location, the Levitate ability is required. The Hidden Location is above the room itself, on the pipes and scaffolding just below the ceiling of the room. One secured unit can be up in this area.
Collectibles[]
- Data Breach - Inside External Communications (on the third floor outside the Mail Room.)
- Book Club: Samson - In the Safe Room outside of Pneumatics.
- Marshall: Lockdown Distinctions - In the Mold-filled office on the third floor outside the Mail Room.
- Tommasi: Willow AWE Outcome - In the eastern letter cage, under the word "Dept." on the sector map.
- America Overnight Ep. 359 - On the second floor of the offices outside the Mail Room.
Gallery[]
Location[]
.png "Communications Dept radio (Salmon Soup by Socks and Ballerinas).png (3.15 MB)")
.png "External Communications (Data Breach).png (1.81 MB)")
.png "Communications Dept. (Book Club Samson).png (2.01 MB)")
.png "Communications Dept. (Marshall Lockdown Distinctions).png (3.12 MB)")
.png "Communications Dept. (Tommasi Willow AWE Outcome).png (2.63 MB)")
.png "Communications Dept. (America Overnight Ep. 359).png (2.97 MB)")
